What Your EHR Partner Wishes They Could Tell You Over Coffee: A Candid Conversation on Driving Mutual Success in Health IT Collaboration

2025 Annual Symposium Health Systems Presentation

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM - 09:00 AM

Abstract Keywords: EHR Implementation and Optimization, Innovation in Digital Care, Workflow Efficiency
Primary Track: Leadership and Governance
Programmatic Theme: Informatics-Driven Value-Based Healthcare

Behind every successful EHR implementation is a complex web of collaboration between healthcare organizations and their EHR vendors—partnerships that can either enable or undermine clinical and operational transformation. In this candid and highly practical panel, two physician informaticists from leading EHR vendors draw on their extensive experience across diverse health systems, academic medical centers, and community hospitals to offer a behind-the-scenes look at what truly drives successful health IT partnerships.
With combined insight from hundreds of EHR implementations and optimizations, the speakers will explore what they wish clinical informatics leaders, CMIOs, CNIOs, and operational stakeholders better understood—before go-live and beyond. Topics will include:
• What “success” looks like from a vendor’s perspective—and how to align it with clinical goals
• Avoiding common pitfalls in governance, communication, and scope management
• The role of informatics leadership in building trust and shared accountability
• Post-implementation optimization: making the most of the technology you’ve invested in
• Realistic timelines, resource planning, and lessons learned across organizations of varying size and complexity
Structured as an engaging and interactive discussion, this session will offer participants not only lessons learned but also strategies to enhance their own vendor relationships and optimize the long-term value of their EHR investments. Attendees will gain practical insights they can apply immediately—whether they are preparing for go-live or navigating years into post-implementation evolution.

Moderator:
Penelope Fu, MD, MPH, FAMIA, FAAP
City of Hope National Medical Center

Speakers:
Louis Kazaglis, MD
Epic

Brian Levy, MD
Oracle Health

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